Ideas
The Dirty Secret of US-Israel Missile Defense Cooperation
We need a way to fund Israel’s missile defenses without undercutting our own.
Science & Tech
Pentagon Opens Boston Tech Outreach Office, With an Eye to BioTech
The East Coast Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental, or DIUx, joins the Pentagon’s other DIUx office, based in the Silicon Valley area and unveiled in 2015.
Business
America’s reliance on Turkish manufacturing; Raytheon’s CEO talks tech; What's next for Boeing’s tanker
Introducing our new weekly newsletter about the future of the business of defense.
Business
Flexible Flyers: Companies Race to Equip Warplanes for Quick Modification
With innovation a new strategic imperative, aircraft builders are making it easier for planes to accept hardware and software improvements.
Ideas
The US Air Force Is Short 700 Fighter Pilots. Here’s Our Plan to Fix That.
Busier but smaller than ever, the Air Force needs higher bonuses and more family time to help compete with commercial airlines and the economy.
Science & Tech
The Pentagon’s Secret Weapons Guru Asked For Your Crazy Ideas & Got 1,000 in 1 Month
Will Roper, director of the Defense Department's Strategic Capabilities Office, got "exactly what we want" from the public.
Ideas
It's Getting Harder to Define Military Readiness. Here's What to Do About It.
Planners and evaluators must try to anticipate how threats and operating environments will change during a deployment.
Ideas
Obama Asked the Military For A Plan to Protect Civilians. Here’s One.
We learned through experience the importance of preventing civilian casualties in today’s wars.
Ideas
Don’t Learn the Wrong Lessons from Rapid Acquisition
Our enthusiasm must be tempered by an understanding of the wartime circumstances that made it work and the downsides that were accepted.
Threats
What’s New in the Pentagon’s China Report? More than Passing Mention of Fake Islands
The annual military assessment includes 7 full pages about South China Sea construction, up from 2 paragraphs last year.
Ideas
Here’s a Way Out of Our Rare-Earths Mess
China controls substances so valuable that the Pentagon dares not act. It’s up to the Senate now.
Ideas
How DIUx Should Pick Its Next Branch Offices
The Defense Secretary’s tech-outreach effort is looking to expand. Here’s how to do it.
Science & Tech
The Pentagon Wants to ‘Fingerprint’ the World’s Hackers
By tracking their tools and behaviors, DARPA aims to solve one of the thorniest problems of cybersecurity: attribution.
Science & Tech
The Increasingly Automated Hunt for Mobile Missile Launchers
The trick is training computers to filter the normal from an ocean of imagery, alert human analysts sparingly, and learn from their feedback.
Science & Tech
The Military Is Pouring Money into Smart Fabrics, But There's a Holdup
A lead researcher explains why high-tech cloth could help the Pentagon with everything from solar-powered tents to sniper-detecting uniforms.
Science & Tech
Carter May Elevate CYBERCOM to a Full Combatant Command
As network warriors pound away on ISIS in the battle for Mosul, Carter says it’s time to consider full-COCOM status for cyberwarfare.
Science & Tech
The Pentagon Still Hasn't Decided Who's In Charge If America Comes Under Cyberattack
Is it NORTHCOM or CYBERCOM? CYBERCOM or the NSA—or both? So many agencies; so little clarity.
Ideas
The US Should Never Develop Another Joint Fighter
The savings rarely materialize when the services try to develop common weapons, but the problems sure do.
Policy
NATO’s Not Obsolete, Says Joint Chiefs Chairman
In fact, the alliance soon could join the fight against ISIS, adds Defense Secretary Carter.
Ideas